Just a few days before her passing, my son found a Monarch Butterfly. The butterfly looked as if it was dying. I explained to him how they live very short lives and he must be too cold to survive any longer. So he scooped him up into a box and brought him into the house to warm him in his room. He then said to me "it's not fair that people can live to 99 or 100, if they grow up all the way, and butterflies don't get to live more than a few weeks." I know that it was on his mind that people live that long because as a 5th generation to my great grandma, he knows first hand!
The next night I had a dream about my great grandma. It was so strange actually... she had somehow left the nursing home and went to the old farm house I lived in as a child. That farm house is no longer standing in West Chester, but the memory of it is in my dreams often. The EMT's brought her out of the house and she was smiling, she looked 10 years younger, her skin was smooth and radiant and every hair on her head was in perfect formation. She looked up at me and said hello Sarah, I told her how beautiful she was and then I woke up. I cried when I woke up, because for the last year or more, she hasn't remembered who I am. She had forgotten my name and that I was her first great grandchild and Isaac was her first and only Great Great Grandchild. I told my grandma (Nonna) the next day about the dream and we both almost cried. It was almost as if it was a sign that she was about to be with God and be back to her beauty.
My Great Grandma used to love to tell stories about her life in Europe. She lived there during the first world war. She used to tell me about how they lived on snails and dandelions for a time. Or how she had and her sister had a paper route, but they had to cross a field with land mines in it. She told me that twice bombs were dropped down their chimney! As a young teenager she worked in Venice, Italy as a maid. She remembers the city for much more than the romance we think of it... but she complains about how dirty it was!
One thing I loved most about her was her honesty. She was a strong and opinionated women. Even though I was raised Catholic and have since gone to a different denomination, she never had a problem speaking up about how my son needed to be baptised! I can still hear her watching over Isaac as a toddler saying "watch him" in her heavy Italian accent, she always worried he would fall and get hurt.
Another thing I loved was that she loved it when people ate! She loved watching people eat, she loved eating! Nothing made her more proud than to see a child eat a big meal. :-) She also loved her red wine! Must be key to living to the age of 99. Pasta and wine!
Grandma worked for many years for a priest in Cincinnati. She cooked for him. She never drove a car. She lived alone until just a few years ago when she fell and broke her hip. She had 2 daughters (Teresa and Mary), 5 grandchildren (Kathie, Rick, Terri, Jenny & Cynthia), 7 great grandchildren (Sarah, Zach, Chelsea, Tyler, Emily, Connor & Thomas), 5 step great grandchildren (Shane, Amanda, Brittney, Kelsey & Cameron), 1 great great grandchild (Isaac) and 3 step great great grandchildren (Chelsea, Brady and Savannah).
Our family suffered a great loss of an amazing lady... but through us, her memory will survive. We love you Grandma!
So MANGE! (eat)
